Europe

Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove is expected to be nominated as the next NATO supreme allied commander in Europe post now that Gen. John Allen is retiring, according to reports.

Senior NATO officials told the New York Times in Brussels that Breedlove is emerging as President Obama’s pick for the top NATO military post.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Thursday that no decisions have been made, however.

Allen, who said this week his is retiring from the military, was in line to take the NATO post last year before he became ensnared in the scandal that led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus.

The State Department confirmed Thursday that John Kerry will meet with his Russian counterpart during his first trip as secretary of State next week after failing to reach him by phone for several days.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet Kerry on Tuesday in Berlin, the secretary's second stop on his nine-nation tour. The news comes after Kerry's relations with Russia got off to a rough start when Lavrov failed to call him back for five days following North Korea's nuclear test, which Russia blamed on Lavrov's travel to Africa.

The two top diplomats have different priorities for their conversation. 

A former Republican presidential candidate has sparked a diplomatic row with France after slamming the French work ethic.

Maurice “Morry” Taylor, the president and CEO of tire-maker Titan International and a 1996 presidential candidate, made the disparaging remarks in a personal letter to French productivity minister Arnaud Montebourg, a member of the Socialist Party. The letter explains why Taylor had rejected a French offer to take over a struggling Goodyear plant in northern France after failing to negotiate new terms with the workers' union.

“I have visited that factory a couple of times,” Taylor wrote in a letter obtained by French business newspaper Les Echos. “The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!”

A growing number of lawmakers are expressing support for a trade deal between the United States and the European Union, which they say will create jobs and bolster the nation's economy. 

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) teamed up with a bipartisan group of 15 other senators in sending a letter on Wednesday to President Obama urging him "to seek the elimination of unnecessary trade and regulatory barriers in all sectors, including difficult areas like agriculture and services."

"By reducing burdensome trade and regulatory barriers, I am hopeful that this new trans-Atlantic agreement will enable American companies to reach more markets, create jobs and enhance innovation," Portman said. 

A call over the weekend ended a week of speculation that Russia had been snubbing the new secretary of State.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking Secretary of State John Kerry to use the “full diplomatic resources” of his department to avert a political crisis in Georgia.

Tensions between President Mikheil Saakashvili and the new government of billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili erupted last week when protesters prevented Saakashvili from delivering his annual state-of-the-nation address. The new government, which has ties to Moscow, has ordered the arrest of several former government officials and civil servants since it came to power in October.

“In the interest of protecting the rights and liberties of the Georgian people and preserving the fledgling Georgian democratic institutions, we ask that you take steps to affirm the United States interests in a free and democratic Georgia,” the letter says. “We encourage you to utilize the full diplomatic resources of the State Department to response to this emerging crisis.”

President Obama joined European Union leaders Wednesday to officially launch talks he announced during his State of the Union address.

Two of the Senate's top trade lawmakers outlined their priorities for a free-trade agreement between the United States and the European Union ahead of the expected start of talks. 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) sent a letter on Tuesday to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging him to press for greater access for U.S. agricultural and service exports, improved intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance and a mechanism for dispute settlement in any U.S.-EU trade deal. 

A trade deal "negotiated and implemented with the highest standards, would have a multiplier effect and would be certain to generate much needed economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic,” the Finance leaders wrote.  

“There is no doubt that a U.S.-EU FTA is an enticing opportunity. While there is much promise in the U.S.-European Union relationship, there are remaining barriers to free and fair trade that are long-standing and difficult to overcome.” 

Sen. Roy Blunt said a meeting with the Russian ambassador about the law banning U.S. adoptions wasn't "overly encouraging."

Vice President Biden will travel to Europe early next month for meetings with top foreign leaders, further signal that the vice president will play a more central role in President Obama's second term.

Biden's trip will kick off in Germany, where he plans to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, and give a policy speech at the Munich Security Conference. Biden appeared before that group four years ago, at the beginning of Obama's first term.

He and second lady Jill Biden will then travel to Paris, where he will meet with President François Hollande and members of the French government. Biden will then cross the Channel, for meetings in London  with Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and other members of the British Cabinet.